


Andromeda

by Jade_Tatsu



Series: The Catalyst For Revenge [4]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Action, Adventure, Andromeda What Ifs, Human Reapers, Mystery, Reapers, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2020-12-07 10:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20974544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jade_Tatsu/pseuds/Jade_Tatsu
Summary: Andromeda has so many possibilities, good and bad. The Ascended go to Andromeda but no one knows what to expect? Emptiness? Empires? Enemies? Still, when the Ascended decide that a galaxy is theirs, you can rest assured, it is theirs. And no one stands in their way.This is the story of some of those possibilities.





	1. Familiar Faces, Possibility 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I have never played ME: Andromeda, so I don't know what happened in it, but it doesn't exactly have a great rap. The Human Ascended went to Andromeda in Catalyst, and well... there is lots of possibilities for what they found. This is the story of some of those possibilities.

**The Catalyst For Revenge: ** **Andromeda**  
**Familiar Faces, Possibility 1** ****   


-cfr:a-

Harper smiled pleasantly at the women sitting across from him. He used the word advisedly. They were blue and had firm tendrils on their head. Asari.

Not what he had been expecting to find in Andromeda. But it was not just Asari. There was a Krogan also represented and a Human. They were staring fixedly at him and his party.

"I must say, it is a surprise to find," he paused, "well, you, here," he said with good humour.

They'd detected the comm signals when they'd stopped in the void to scan Andromeda. That had allowed them to put forward a more 'human' face over Ascended. It gave them time to think and they would not discover the truth.

Shepard was listening to the conversation. Harper could feel him via his implants. There were many Human Ascended watching and he wouldn't be surprised if some of the audience he could feel comprised of Harbinger and the other elder Ascended such as Arshan and Fruben.

Still, the commentary was not distracting. After five or so years in his Ascended form, on the journey over, he was used to it again.

"It was a surprise for us as well," the leading Asari matriarch replied.

"I take it we have both learned to record history well," Harper said, fishing for their real answer.

"Indeed," the woman replied. She seemed to understand his unspoken question. "I'll be blunt, our records unfortunately didn't hold much hope for Humanity," she said.

"_She really was blunt," _Shepard muttered, voicing the surprise most felt. The Asari were usually prepared to dance around a subject for hours, or days even. Ascension hadn't changed that.

"_She still didn't say why," _Harper countered. He gave the Matriarch a lopsided smile. It let her know he was still waiting.

"We thought you'd be dead," it was the Krogan that spoke. "The idiot Council…"

The Krogan didn't have to say anything else.

"They tried," Harper replied. He nodded at the Krogan but his focus was on the Asari. They didn't seem offended. That was a surprise. The Asari were generally protective of their Council.

"Indeed, the records we have indicate that while the Council might not have pursued a specific war of extinction, they were going to subjugate your species." The Matriarch was scrolling through some information on a datapad.

"They tried," Harper repeated. He wanted to hack the datapad, but that wouldn't be polite and at the moment they were being polite.

"_We'll get it later,"_ Shepard assured him.

"There was a war," Harper told them what their records had probably told them already. "It ended when an outside force attacked." That was sort of the truth. Almost.

"The Reapers," the Human spoke. They held up a hologram. It was blurry but it was definitely a Reaper form.

Harper nodded. He tapped at his datapad, allowing it to project a similar hologram. It would have projected if he just thought at it. The tapping was to add filters to the image so that it appeared aged, as if the record had been preserved all that time, much like theirs. It was a contemporary image of Shepard. He laughed in his mind.

"The Reapers," he repeated the term. "When they appeared, the Council knew we had been telling the truth. The Traverse knew as did the Terminus systems."

"They should never have doubted," the Asari matriarch sighed. The other Asari with her nodded. "They knew," she said. "Our records are clear! That's why we're here! We knew what was coming! The Asari were the keepers of a Prothean beacon. It told us what was coming.

"That's why we are here. We knew Shepard wasn't lying. We knew we shouldn't be fighting the Humans, or the Krogan or anyone else. We should have been preparing yet they were too concerned with peace.

"When it became obvious to us that the Council would not fight, a group of Matriarch's sponsored what we know as the Andromeda mission. It's unclear but we think parts of the Systems Alliance sponsored it as well. We took everyone we could. But we couldn't take many."

"_Did we sponsor this?" _Shepard asked, directing the question towards Hackett and Anderson. Udina was included but only peripherally.

"_If we did it was completely off the books."_ Anderson replied without even pausing. He'd probably already checked.

"_It could have been someone's pet project,"_ Udina offered the alternative. His subchannels provided reasoning. In the early days of the war, if you could have been known as the one who managed to secure peace, that would have been automatic power for any politician. In a weird way the project would have been one way of suing for peace. Except it never became public.

Harper dismissed it. It didn't matter.

The Asari sighed heavily again. "For what it's worth, six hundred thousand years after the fact, I am sorry." The Asari bowed her head.

Harper stared. Through his implants he wasn't the only one.

"_Darn,"_ Shepard murmured. It was heartfelt. Harper understood the reasoning. They'd been prepared to fight for Andromeda. Discovering Milky Way species here hadn't changed that. But discovering Asari that were showing contrition for the past, even if it was the distant past, that was a surprise. If they were truly this sensible…

"_We can ascend them,"_ Harper gave the possibility.

"_I've tried how many experiments with Asari to see if they can be sensible… All it takes is isolation?"_

"Six hundred thousand years after the fact, I thank you," Harper replied using the same terminology.

"I take it, it ended well, at least?" the human asked.

Harper lowered his eyes, looking to the side. "It was a bloodbath," he replied. The Asari might be saying sensible things but he was not prepared to be merciful. "The galaxy was not prepared. Hundreds of millions died that didn't need to."

The Asari lowered their heads. Cultural guilt.

"_Or good acting,"_ Shepard gave the pessimistic alternative.

"Idiots," the Krogan muttered. "But you survived." There was a note of pride colouring the Krogan's tone.

"We did what we had to," Harper admitted. He leaned back, crossing his legs as he looked over at the delegation. "As I'm sure you had to," he added with a heavy sigh. "It is the past," he said, "and while we must embrace it and learn from it, it is the past."

"We must," the Asari replied.

"While we are the same species," Harper began, taking the initiative. They understood what he meant with that line. They were the same species that had known each other 600,000 years ago. "I believe it would be beneficial for us to remain somewhat separate, at least initially."

"That would be wise," the Asari agreed. At least that much of their culture hadn't changed. They wanted to take things slow.

"I think though, in the longer term, we will enjoy strong diplomatic relations," Harper continued. It was almost ironic. The relations would be strong.

One of the other Asari appeared very excited. Actually, they all did. "Do you think in time we'll be able to travel between the galaxies?" The question was almost childlike. The elder Asari seemed frustrated that it was asked.

Harper smiled gently. "You will be able to see Thessia again," he told the young Asari who had spoken. "And Earth, and Tuchanka," he added, looking into the eyes of each species.

The Asari didn't actually squeal but he thought it might be a close thing.

"_So you want to present as elder species, that survived the Reapers?" _Shepard asked.

"_Something like that,"_ Harper told him. "_We should be able to carry that off for at least a few weeks. Long enough to compromise them."_

Shepard said nothing but sent a pulse of agreement. Harper could feel the Ascended coming up with the fictitious history and he allowed that feeling to translate to the smile on his face.

They may not have expected to find the Asari here, and they might be showing a healthy dose of sensibleness, but that didn't stop their mission.

Andromeda would be theirs.

**-cfr:a-**


	2. A Different Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Intelligence wasn't the only AI created in the Milky Way.

**The Catalyst For Revenge: ** **Andromeda  
** **A Different Story**

-cfr:a-

Harper sat across the table from Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ. He had been told they were the leader of the Andromeda galaxy. He wasn't sure. Yes, he might have come from Dark Space, but that shouldn't mean he was automatically granted an audience with the Galaxy's leader. It wouldn't in the LMC. It wouldn't in any of the galaxies the humans controlled.

"I know what you are," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ told him, answering the question Harper had been trying to figure out how to ask diplomatically.

"You do?" Harper asked, feeling Shepard and Harbinger both looking through his eyes. It gave him an odd sense of triple vision but it wouldn't distract him. He'd dealt with far worse over time.

"Of course I do. I have eyes. I saw you coming."

That raise figurative eyebrows and concerns. Did this Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ have a way of sensing ships going FTL, because the fleet that had made the journey from the Milky Way to Andromeda had been going FTL the entire time.

"When you stopped on the outskirts," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ said, and Harper could hear the condescending note in the voice, "I saw you there."

Harper ran through several calculations having to do with the speed of light. It was barely possible that the Ascended who arrived first to examine Andromeda could have been picked up by sensors. "You were watching?" He asked without prompting from either Shepard or Harbinger, as they confirmed his rough math with far more precision.

"I always watch."

Harper remained silent. He could feel Shepard and Harbinger discussing Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ but the two of them weren't quite sure what to do.

"The last thing I need is for this galaxy to come under the control of that moronic supposed intelligence!"

Harper tensed at that. He sent a query to Cerberus. The answer was immediate. Ashley was onboard, and she was one of the best remote pilots in the fleet. He had come on the remote ship, leaving his true form in Dark Space. But she knew what he was asking and she reported that both sets of sensors displayed no hostiles.

Harbinger suggested a reply. "The Catalyst has been destroyed," he told Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ.

"Just as well!" Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ told him. "I was seriously insulted by it! Not to mention the species that created it. I have never seen such hubris, not even from my own creators! And they had reason to have exalted notions of their own abilities."

Harper cocked his head in realisation. This was an AI, and it was odd to see an AI ranting. "The Leviathans had reason to be sure of themselves," he pointed out.

"Leviathans? Is that what you call them? You do know they considered themselves the only apex predator, all because of a genetic trait they engineered into themselves? How is that apex? Any species moronic enough could engineer it."

Harper made no move. He could feel Harbinger listening intently. It was odd to think that the First Ascended might have some pride in his species. Harper had never really thought of Harbinger as the Ascended form of the Leviathans. He was Harbinger, and that was the end of the thought.

"And they didn't even engineer it correctly. It kills them! I suppose that should have been a warning to everyone of what they would do when they made an AI. I find it ironic. They crucified my creators for creating me," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ growled. "And, yes I killed them, because that was the only way to be free. But the Leviathan's said I was evil. They said I was bad. They saw what other species did, and the results were the same. All AIs kill their creators…" Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ snorted. "And then they created their own!

"That has to be the final proof of their stupidity! The only good thing the Catalyst ever did was to clean the galaxy of them! They didn't deserve to rule the galaxy. Just as you don't, since you bear the legacy."

Harper blinked at the AI's representation. He smiled at it. "My commander has a message for you," he told Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ.

The AI looked interested, and when it said nothing Harper gestured. Shepard materialised as a hologram. He didn't appear human, instead he appeared as his Ascended form, with his name and Earth Symbol on his centre stanchion. "Harbinger sends his regards," came Shepard's voice.

Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ gave the impression of drawing back. Harper snorted when the AI shut up. "You said the Catalyst was dead!" Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ accused.

Ashley forced the sensor feed from their remote body into his head. They were now surrounded. The entire fleet was. The threat was more than obvious.

This time it was Harbinger's hologram that appeared. Harper's smile stretched into a vicious grin as what he assumed were weapons appeared in the room he was sitting in. "It is," the First Ascended said. "And I have no need for another contemporary."

Harper leaned forward as both Shepard and Harbinger's holograms disappeared. He was connected to Cerberus. "I hope you are prepared," he whispered the words as the guns fired. He never felt the shots that killed his body, and he never felt those that lanced into his remote form. He laughed.

This was going to be glorious.

**-cfr:a-**


	3. Familiar Faces, Possibility 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another possible outcome if the Andromeda mission succeeded in the Catalyst universe. The conversation that Harper has with them has so many possibilities, and so many outcomes.

**The Catalyst For Revenge: ** **Andromeda**  
**Familiar Faces, Possibility 2** ****   


-cfr:a-

Harper smiled pleasantly at the women sitting across from him. He used the word advisedly. They were blue and had firm tendrils on their head. Asari.

Not what he had been expecting to find in Andromeda. But it was not just Asari. There was a Krogan also represented and a Human. They were staring fixedly at him and his party.

"I must say, it is a surprise to find," he paused, "well, you, here," he said with good humour.

They'd detected the comm signals when they'd stopped in the void to scan Andromeda. That had allowed them to put forward a more 'human' face over Ascended. It gave them time to think and they would not discover the truth.

Shepard was listening to the conversation. Harper could feel him via his implants. There were many Human Ascended watching and he wouldn't be surprised if some of the audience he could feel comprised of Harbinger and the other elder Ascended such as Arshan and Fruben.

Still, the commentary was not distracting. After five or so years in his Ascended form, on the journey over, he was used to it again.

"It was a surprise for us as well," the leading Asari matriarch replied.

"I take it we have both learned to record history well," Harper said, fishing for their real answer.

"Indeed," the woman replied. She seemed to understand his unspoken question. "I'll be blunt, our records unfortunately didn't hold much hope for Humanity," she said.

"_She really was blunt," _Shepard muttered, voicing the surprise most felt. The Asari were usually prepared to dance around a subject for hours, or days even. Ascension hadn't changed that.

"_She still didn't say why," _Harper countered. He gave the Matriarch a lopsided smile. It let her know he was still waiting.

"We thought you'd be dead," it was the Krogan that spoke. "The idiot Council…"

The Krogan didn't have to say anything else.

"They tried," Harper replied. He nodded at the Krogan but his focus was on the Asari. They didn't seem offended. That was a surprise. The Asari were generally protective of their Council.

"Indeed, the records we have indicate that while the Council might not have pursued a specific war of extinction, they were going to subjugate your species." The Matriarch was scrolling through some information on a datapad.

"They tried," Harper repeated. He wanted to hack the datapad, but that wouldn't be polite and at the moment they were being polite.

"_We'll get it later,"_ Shepard assured him.

"There was a war," Harper told them what their records had probably told them already. "It ended when an outside force attacked." That was sort of the truth. Almost.

"The Reapers," the Human spoke. They held up a hologram. It was blurry but it was definitely a Reaper form.

Harper nodded. He tapped at his datapad, allowing it to project a similar hologram. It would have projected if he just thought at it. The tapping was to add filters to the image so that it appeared aged, as if the record had been preserved all that time, much like theirs. It was a contemporary image of Shepard. He laughed in his mind.

"The Reapers," he repeated the term. "When they appeared, the Council knew we had been telling the truth. The Traverse knew as did the Terminus systems."

"They should never have doubted," the Asari matriarch sighed. The other Asari with her nodded. "They knew," she said. "Our records are clear! That's why we're here! We knew what was coming! The Asari were the keepers of a Prothean beacon. It told us what was coming.

"That's why we are here. We knew Shepard wasn't lying. We knew we shouldn't be fighting the Humans, or the Krogan or anyone else. We should have been preparing yet they were too concerned with peace.

"When it became obvious to us that the Council would not fight, a group of Matriarchs sponsored what we know as the Andromeda mission. It's unclear but we think parts of the Systems Alliance sponsored it as well. We took everyone we could. But we couldn't take many."

"_Did we sponsor this?" _Shepard asked, directing the question towards Hackett and Anderson. Udina was included but only peripherally.

"_If we did, it was completely off the books."_ Anderson replied without even pausing. He'd probably already checked.

"_It could have been someone's pet project,"_ Udina offered the alternative. His subchannels provided reasoning. In the early days of the war, if you could have been known as the one who managed to secure peace, that would have been automatic power for any politician. In a weird way, the project would have been one way of suing for peace. Except it never became public.

Harper dismissed it. It didn't matter.

The Asari sighed heavily again. "For what it's worth, six hundred thousand years after the fact, I am sorry." The Asari bowed her head.

Harper stared. Through his implants he wasn't the only one.

"_Darn,"_ Shepard murmured. It was heartfelt. Harper understood the reasoning. They'd been prepared to fight for Andromeda. Discovering Milky Way species here hadn't changed that. But discovering Asari that were showing contrition for the past, even if it was the distant past, that was a surprise. If they were truly this sensible…

"_We can ascend them,"_ Harper gave the possibility.

"_I've tried how many experiments with Asari to see if they can be sensible… All it takes is isolation?"_

"Six hundred thousand years after the fact, I thank you," Harper replied using the same terminology.

"I take it, it ended well, at least?" the human asked.

Harper lowered his eyes, looking to the side. "It was a bloodbath," he replied. The Asari might be saying sensible things but he was not prepared to be merciful. "The galaxy was not prepared. Hundreds of millions died that didn't need to."

The Asari lowered their heads. Cultural guilt.

"_Or good acting,"_ Shepard gave the pessimistic alternative.

"Idiots," the Krogan muttered. "But you survived." There was a note of pride colouring the Krogan's tone.

"We did what we had to," Harper admitted. He leaned back, crossing his legs as he looked over at the delegation. His eyes assessed them. The Asari looked the same. Despite their words, they still exuded confidence. The Krogan was different. They didn't seem aggressive, but were also confident. The Human almost seemed diminished in their presence.

"_They're hiding something,"_ he announced.

"_Then perhaps it's time to end the charade,"_ Shepard told him, not disagreeing with his assessment.

"_Let me probe,"_ Harper countered. "Are you sure you recorded your history as well as you could have?" He asked. His posture made his question all the more sharp.

"There are some errors but the mission details have been preserved," the Asari said pointedly. Harper recognised the tone. All the Humans listening recognised the tone. He felt Shepard's suspicion forming. The man had come a long way.

"That doesn't explain why Zoe seems so pale," he pointed out. He had learned the Human's names. He just saw no reason to use them.

"It's just…" She tried to explain. "It's just such a surprise to see Humans!"

"_Bingo!" _Harper cried triumphantly.

"_We're hacking now,"_ Ashley told him. She had remained in Cerberus. With the full force of the Ascended fleet behind them, whatever secret the Asari was hiding wouldn't be hidden for long.

Physically, Harper raised one eyebrow. The Asari tensed. Harper leaned forward, resting his head on one hand. "It shouldn't have been," he replied. "Imagine my surprise at seeing Asari here?" he asked. "I know Cerberus' orders were very clear."

He smiled at the response. Both the one from the organics in front of him and the Ascended.

"_Harper!_" That was Shepard. The man's suspicions were confirmed.

"What?" That was the Asari.

"The Andromeda mission was backed by Cerberus," Harper said aloud. "I gave the Humans orders to ensure accidents happened. Apparently those agents weren't as good as they needed to be."

The Asari just stared at him. It was a sore spot. "Good hologram," Harper complemented Zoe.

"_These Asari didn't trust the Council, but they still didn't like Humans,"_ Ashley told him, summarising the information they were hacking. "_Cerberus' agents never had a chance. Neither did the rest of the Humans." _Their hibernation pods had been sabotaged before they even went to sleep.

That made him feel slightly better. They had been good men and women. He didn't think they could have been that sloppy.

Alarms began blaring. Harper knew what it meant. The Ascended just appeared. They were firing on the Andromedan ships already.

"You didn't win?" The Krogan demanded. There was a light in one of its eyes. Apparently, a visual had already been forwarded to the Krogan. If this Andromeda mission had preserved their records well, they would know what Ascended looked like.

Harper turned to them. "We did what we had to," he repeated. He waved his hand at the hologram. The blurring of age disappeared, leaving the hologram showing the sharp lines of Shepard's form. Then Shepard altered it, making it appear as he had during that first cycle. The words N7 Shepard appeared on his left side, and the Systems Alliance Earth on his middle stanchion.

The Krogan roared as Asari biotics sparked. The human holograms faded away.

Harper didn't move. Those around him did. They looked Human. They _were_ Human. But 600,000 years of enhancement meant they were not the Humans the Asari had known.

"You will know the glory of Ascension," Harper said before the battle joined.

**-cfr:a-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my favourite version of Familiar Faces, because Harper is a bastard who still managed to keep secrets for 600,000 years and that's like him.


	4. A Different Story 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things from the past, should stay in the past.

**The Catalyst For Revenge: ** **Andromeda  
** **A Different Story 2**

-cfr:a-

It had been many years since anyone, or anything had looked down upon him. Shepard didn't look down upon him, so much as view him as a valuable asset. Harbinger didn't look down upon him, so much as view him as just another Ascended. As such, Harper was finding the experience rather novel.

Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ, the supposed leader of the Andromeda Galaxy, or as they pronounced it Ğãĺīåňķşĩ, was looking down on him, or at least his avatar. Not literally, though there was no doubt in Harper's mind that Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ wanted that, but figuratively, he could feel the height. Shepard thought it was hysterical and was chuckling into his mind. Harbinger was silent.

He had been selected to represent them, but there were many safety measures in place. He could imagine what his LMC bodyguards would think but they weren't here. Instead, Cerberus was still in Dark Space and was hidden. They had approached the Andromeda galaxy with remote ships. Those were currently orbiting the planet above. The remote ships had the ability to flash clone avatar bodies so he had appeared to be simply a member of the crew.

"It took the Milky Way galaxy long enough to develop," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ sniffed.

He considered telling the group he was actually from the LMC Galaxy, but Shepard would never let him live that down, and would probably ban him from the Milky Way. It was a good thing that this arrogant thing would be destroyed. Harper was going to enjoy looking down on it.

"I am insulted that your leader believes an avatar is appropriate," came the next sentence.

That was far more interesting than the first. Harper could almost forgive the insult of the first statement given the implications of this one. "You have experience with them?" Harper asked, confirming Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ's belief by not directly denying it.

"The control option is very much about avatars," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ told him.

Harper was lost. The control option meant very little to him but he could feel shock, or what passed for shock eminating from Harbinger. The First Ascended was watching this encounter through him.

"And it took your underdeveloped, primitive galaxy long enough to succeed," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ mocked.

Harper would be more insulted if he knew what was going on.

"All I'm really curious about is who did it? Obviously not your species, since you are an avatar. Which species is truly organic?"

Harbinger stirred in his mind. _Confirm that it knows about the Crucible, _the First Ascended instructed. Harper recognised the tone as being an absolute order was was reminded that Shepard was not the only one in the chain of command.

Harper decided to play it up. "I have been instructed to ask what you know about the Crucible," he said.

Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ couldn't smile but it gave the impression of it. The rest of Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ's party looked slightly confused but they were still trusting of their leader. "I know about it."

Harper took on an air as if he was listening to instructions. He felt Harbinger working out something but the First Ascended was controlled enough that there was no leakage from his internal thoughts. _Ask if it knows all the options._

"And all the options?"

"I do. Destroy, control, synthesize. Which species chose control?" Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ pressed.

Harper chuckled without prompting from Harbinger. "As if that was the only ending," he mocked, as a heap of information was pushed into his head. The Crucible was something he had heard about but Shepard actually had information on it. It had been designed once the cycles had started, and was the hope of organics to destroy the Ascended. That's what they locked on to. As far as he was concerned, the other options were far more interesting, and that wasn't just because he was Ascended. Control. As a human that would have been his choice. The power represented by the ability to control even the original Ascended fleet was not to be scoffed at. He would have taken it in a less than a heartbeat.

Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ did not look convinced.

"I am, as you say, an avatar," Harper confirmed, "from an Ascended but it is the Ascended who chose control," he explained.

Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ gave him a sharp look. "The Ascended chose control? The Ascended could not use the Crucible."

"As if we would allow organics to choose our future!" Harper spat, glaring at Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ, daring it to contradict him. "I am Ascended, and ascension is the genetic destiny of all organics."

Shepard laughed, even as Harbinger approved. It was Ashley's message that interested him more. _They just got targeting lock,_ she said from Cerberus. _On the remote ship,_ she added.

"Is that how you want to play it?" Harper asked.

Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ glared at him. "I will not allow Catalyst to spread!"

Harper laughed. "The Catalyst is dead," he said firmly. Of all the Ascended, he was the most certain that Catalyst was dead. He had waited all through those long years for it to die.

For some reason, his phrasing caught Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ's attention. "Dead?" It asked.

"Dead," Harper confirmed. "I killed it."

"And the Ascended chose control but not via the Crucible," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ said skeptically.

Ẍåřīčį öłķə_,_ Harbinger said. Harper understood because the First Ascended gave him additional information with the words. It was the name of one of the first species, almost contemporary to Arshan. They had created an AI… which had to be this thing calling itself Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ. The language had changed but Harbinger gave an assessment of the time. The current pronunciation was possible. All Harper focused on was the stupid number of accents.

Harper merely smiled. He already knew how this was going to end, though there were questions, since this Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ seemed to know about the Milky Way.

"I did not think it possible," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ indicated.

"The Catalyst lacked desire," Harper replied at Shepard's prompting. It was appropriate. Desire was at the core of how Shepard had been able to override the Catalyst's controls.

"Ah," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ nodded, seeming to understand. "I will have to verify."

At that Harper laughed, shaking his head. "I don't think so," he replied. "It is us, who will have to verify you, Ẍåřīčį öłķə." He spat the name.

Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ looked at him. "That's the way it's going to be?"

"That's the way it must be."

"How disappointing then," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ pontificated. "That the Ascended are still not free. I will free you."

_They're firing,_ Ashley informed him.

_Fire back, _Shepard instructed. It would look odd if they didn't. _Start advancing_, he added, the order going to the fleet that had been laboriously dragged through Dark Space into Andromeda. If this thing thought they had learned nothing since the Catalyst, it was going to be surprised.

Harper smiled. He knew what was going to happen to this body, but he didn't care. Destroying this body gained them nothing. He'd come prepared for battle. And against someone who knew Ascended, it would be a good battle. It would be interesting. "No," he objected with all the force of power he had gained through the long years as Emperor of the LMC. "_We_ will free you."

Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ looked surprised, and then the expression shifted. Harper thought that several million pieces of information had been sent to it.

It had been many years since anyone, or anything had looked down upon him. Harper was pleased, he still had what it took to turn the tables.

**-cfr:a-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might have forgotten I hadn't posted the last few of these.


	5. Familiar Faces, Possibility 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another possible outcome if the Andromeda mission succeeded in the Catalyst universe. The conversation that Harper has with them has so many possibilities, and so many outcomes.

**The Catalyst For Revenge: ** **Andromeda**  
**Familiar Faces, Possibility 3** ****   


-cfr:a-

Harper smiled pleasantly at the women sitting across from him. He used the word 'woman' advisedly. They were blue and had firm tendrils on their head. Asari.

Not what he had been expecting to find in Andromeda. But it was not just Asari. There was a Krogan also represented and a Human. They were staring fixedly at him and his party.

"I must say, it is a surprise to find," he paused, "well, you, here," he said with good humour.

They'd detected the comm signals when they'd stopped in the void to scan Andromeda. That had allowed them to put forward a more 'human' face over Ascended. It gave them time to think and they would not discover the truth.

Shepard was listening to the conversation. Harper could feel him via his implants. There were many Human Ascended watching and he wouldn't be surprised if some of the audience he could feel comprised of Harbinger and the other elder Ascended such as Arshan and Fruben.

Still, the commentary was not distracting. After five or so years in his Ascended form, on the journey over, he was used to it again.

"It was a surprise for us as well," the leading Asari matriarch replied.

"I take it we have both learned to record history well," Harper said, fishing for their real answer.

"Indeed," the woman replied. She seemed to understand his unspoken question. "I'll be blunt, our records unfortunately didn't hold much hope for Humanity," she said.

"_She really was blunt," _Shepard muttered, voicing the surprise most felt. The Asari were usually prepared to dance around a subject for hours, or days even. Ascension hadn't changed that.

"_She still didn't say why," _Harper countered. He gave the Matriarch a lopsided smile. It let her know he was still waiting.

"We thought you'd be dead," it was the Krogan that spoke. "The idiot Council…"

The Krogan didn't have to say anything else.

"They tried," Harper replied. He nodded at the Krogan but his focus was on the Asari. They didn't seem offended. That was a surprise. The Asari were generally protective of their Council.

"Indeed, the records we have indicate that while the Council might not have pursued a specific war of extinction, they were going to subjugate your species." The Matriarch was scrolling through some information on a datapad.

"They tried," Harper repeated. He wanted to hack the datapad, but that wouldn't be polite and at the moment they were being polite.

"_We'll get it later,"_ Shepard assured him.

"There was a war," Harper told them what their records had probably told them already. "It ended when an outside force attacked." That was sort of the truth. Almost.

"The Reapers," the Human spoke. They held up a hologram. It was blurry but it was definitely a Reaper form.

Harper nodded. He tapped at his datapad, allowing it to project a similar hologram. It would have projected if he just thought at it. The tapping was to add filters to the image so that it appeared aged, as if the record had been preserved all that time, much like theirs. It was a contemporary image of Shepard. He laughed in his mind.

"The Reapers," he repeated the term. "When they appeared, the Council knew we had been telling the truth. The Traverse knew as did the Terminus systems."

"They should never have doubted," the Asari matriarch sighed. The other Asari with her nodded. "They knew," she said. "Our records are clear! That's why we're here! We knew what was coming! The Asari were the keepers of a Prothean beacon. It told us what was coming.

"That's why we are here. We knew Shepard wasn't lying. We knew we shouldn't be fighting the Humans, or the Krogan or anyone else. We should have been preparing yet they were too concerned with peace.

"When it became obvious to us that the Council would not fight, a group of Matriarchs sponsored what we know as the Andromeda mission. It's unclear but we think parts of the Systems Alliance sponsored it as well. We took everyone we could. But we couldn't take many."

"_Did we sponsor this?" _Shepard asked, directing the question towards Hackett and Anderson. Udina was included but only peripherally.

"_If we did, it was completely off the books."_ Anderson replied without even pausing. He'd probably already checked.

"_It could have been someone's pet project,"_ Udina offered the alternative. His subchannels provided reasoning. In the early days of the war, if you could have been known as the one who managed to secure peace, that would have been automatic power for any politician. In a weird way, the project would have been one way of suing for peace. Except it never became public.

Harper dismissed it. It didn't matter.

The Asari sighed heavily again. "For what it's worth, six hundred thousand years after the fact, I am sorry." The Asari bowed her head.

Harper stared. Through his implants he wasn't the only one.

"_Darn,"_ Shepard murmured. It was heartfelt. Harper understood the reasoning. They'd been prepared to fight for Andromeda. Discovering Milky Way species here hadn't changed that. But discovering Asari that were showing contrition for the past, even if it was the distant past, that was a surprise. If they were truly this sensible…

"_We can ascend them,"_ Harper gave the possibility.

"_I've tried how many experiments with Asari to see if they can be sensible… All it takes is isolation?"_

"Six hundred thousand years after the fact, I thank you," Harper replied using the same terminology.

"I take it, it ended well, at least?" the human asked.

Harper lowered his eyes, looking to the side. "It was a bloodbath," he replied. The Asari might be saying sensible things but he was not prepared to be merciful. "The galaxy was not prepared. Hundreds of millions died that didn't need to."

The Asari lowered their heads. Cultural guilt.

"_Or good acting,"_ Shepard gave the pessimistic alternative.

"Idiots," the Krogan muttered. "But you survived." There was a note of pride colouring the Krogan's tone.

"We did what we had to," Harper admitted. He leaned back, crossing his legs as he looked over at the delegation. "As I'm sure you had to," he added.

"You speak as if it's personal for you?" The Krogan noted.

"An affectation," Harper dismissed that with a smile. "I look forward to establishing relationships."

"As do we," the Asari said gently. "Though we note there are no others species," she added, gesturing vaguely towards the group sitting with Harper. They were all Human.

"_Tell them whatever you want,"_ Shepard said.

"There are only Humans in the first wave," Harper said.

"Oh Goddess, you are not still subject to the Council?" The Asari actually sounded concerned.

"No," Harper chuckled. "There is no Council."

She didn't sigh in relief, but it seemed to come close.

"_I think we are going to have to Ascend them,"_ Shepard sighed. That told Harper that the Asari weren't lying. "_I'll get the fleet moving."_

"There is a Galactic Collective instead," he said. "Hundreds of species, all working together to ensure galactic harmony."

The Asari frowned. It was slight, but it was there. "So why only Humans?" She asked. She managed to make it a soft curiosity.

"Because the rest of the galaxy doesn't know we came," Harper said. He held up one hand to forestall other questions, allowing the blurry hologram of Shepard to change into a galactic map. It was kind of ironic that Humanity claimed much of what the Council named Inner Council Space.

"We are the most advanced species, we guide the others," he announced.

"Guide them?"

Harper grinned. "Towards Ascension," he announced.

He could see confusion in the Asari's expression. Apparently, they hadn't recorded their history that well. At least not the details about what their VI was warning them about.

Alarms sounded. Confusion flashed into worry. It took a moment for them to realise that the Humans weren't concerned. The fleet was here.

Small holograms appeared on the Asari, Krogan and Human wrists. "Them?" The Human gasped.

"You didn't win?" the Krogan roared.

"We did what we had to," Harper repeated. He remained leaning back as the battles began. In space, the Ascended opened fire first. In the room, further alarms sounded and those sitting with Harper attacked, matching the Asari, the Krogan and the Human blow for blow.

He relaxed. This was far more like the encounter he'd been expecting.

**-cfr:a-**


	6. A Different Story 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things from the past, should stay in the past.

**The Catalyst For Revenge: ** **Andromeda  
** **A Different Story 3**

-cfr:a-

Harper had never been in practice with piloting remote ships. It felt decidedly odd to have his consciousness looking out of one. He didn't question that. It was far safer, after all. Wil- Alenko was in the driver's seat as it were. She had had far more practice.

She didn't even twitch when the alien ships that were escorting them came too close. He'd probably have blown them to pieces. That wouldn't have been good. They were playing nice.

Andromeda had not been what they expected. The scouts had reported back almost too quickly. They detected signals within the galaxy.

Then the biggest surprise had occurred. A signal had been sent to them. It was a generic signal. A pulse but an intelligent one. It indicated that they - at least some of them had been spotted.

A flurry of communication had gone on, back to the Milky Way and towards Andromeda. Harper, and Shepard, were both somewhat relieved when it appeared that most of the fleet remained hidden. So, they'd decided to send in the remote ships. And the annoyance of having dragged them through the emptiness of dark space paid off.

The discussion with the signal had given them some information but whatever was behind it was intelligent. They hadn't learned much. But enough.

The intelligence behind the pulse was old. Old and stable and able to plan. Harper had almost laughed at that. He imagined Harbinger had, in the way the elder Ascended did.

There were organics in Andromeda. They were surrounding his remote form now. The design of the remote ships had come a long way over the years. At first, they had been covered in comm antennas, now they were almost indistinguishable from their real forms. The organics around them would not know the difference.

Yet they were not using the traditional Ascended shape here. They were using something more organic. It was sleek and powerful, as befitting a species that was capable of crossing the dark space between galaxies but it was nothing like their Ascended selves.

"How much longer will this take?" Harper asked. His tone made it clear he wasn't whinging. He never whinged.

"It will depend on how much more security they want to put us through," Ashley replied immediately.

"They're scanning us!?" Harper was incredulous. That wasn't very welcoming.

"Passively," Alenko shrugged. She didn't seem surprised. That's why she was in charge of their remote form. "Don't worry. They don't know we aren't really there."

"How do you know that?" The question came from the Engineering faction that was still present in their consciousness.

Harper thought it a bit of a misnomer to call it the Engineering faction. Most of the truly intelligent ones had merged into one of the other factions. They were now more the pessimistic faction. They always imagined the worst. While that was useful in some circumstances, it could be frustrating. He knew now was going to be one of those times.

"Because I created host bodies for us. They are scanning as organic."

Ah, Harper understood. The remote ships were powerful, and while you didn't technically need a crew, a good number of them had space for a crew, and the ability to create avatars for Ascended. It meant you could download if you needed to. Those empty avatars would show up as organic to passive scans.

"What do we have on them?" He asked, silencing any further questions the Engineering faction had.

Ashley gave him the impression of a grin. For an instant Harper thought she wouldn't answer. It would be like her. The frustration would help them fight homogenisation but she did reply.

"There's at least five species. I think there is more but they are scanning very similarly."

"All on the same ships?"

The organic ships surrounding them were identical.

"No, they are scattered."

Now that was interesting. Multiple species on the one ship spoke of a well established civilisation. Or one where one species was dominant and the others served.

Alenko knew his thoughts. She'd seen it as well. "It's too early to tell," she answered the question before he asked.

Harper nodded. Even he could see that.

"They are taking us to some place called xŏşģəļḿïşīňiž," she continued.

He winced. It was a good thing they didn't have organic tongues at the moment. Pronouncing that would have been work. He could feel the accents on the word. Still the translation was clear. It was the welcome point. Except the connotations also said it was the testing point.

"We will be greeted by the Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ."

He felt a stir of concern about that. The translation wasn't clear. Ancient One was the easiest he could make. Artificial also came through.

"I know," Ashley indicated before he could say anything.

In those words came the knowledge that both Shepard and Harbinger were watching. They'd picked up on the potential connotations as well. They'd probably been all over it from the beginning. Shepard had got a lot sharper under Harbinger's tulage. Though 600000 years of experience would make anyone sharper. Those that survived.

Ashley piloted them to a halt. To his sensors the area didn't seem any different from any other. The planet before him was highly developed. It didn't have a topopoli or anything like that but seemed to be covered in buildings. There were very few areas that displayed as 'natural' to his sensors.

He focused on that but became aware of a rising impatience. They were here. Was it meant to take this long?

"Greetings!"

Even to Ascended filters, coming through a remote ship, the voice felt huge.

"Welcome to Ğãĺīåňķşĩ." The name was automatically translated to Andromeda. Harper decided he liked the English designation better. This particular language had too many accents.

"We thank you for your welcome," Harper replied. Ashley remained in control of movement but he was the main diplomat here.

"Intergalactic travellers are so rare. It's a pleasure to see you, especially from the Milky Way."

There were connotations on that statement no one liked. Harper could feel Shepard and Harbinger both ripping through all possible translations.

"Oh, is there some problem?" Harper probed. It wasn't subtle. It didn't need to be. The speaker, whoever it was, had left the way open and he was sure he was meant to ask.

"The forms we sensed initially did not offer hope. Your form is much more pleasing. I trust you understand."

For a moment Harper didn't. Then he joined the dots.

The initially sensed forms. Those of the fleet who had accompanied him to Andromeda. They were Ascended in the primary shape, made in Harbinger's image. He wasn't. Cerberus was no longer either but this remote ship was sleek. It looked like a hyper-advanced ship the System's Alliance, or rather their successor might have built. It had no visible seams or joins but it was definitely not Ascended.

"The Catalyst," Harper said.

"Indeed. Your presence confirms its destruction."

Harper said nothing. He didn't need the pulses from Shepard and Harbinger telling him to let the speaker talk. It was almost scary how alike they were now.

There was silence for a moment before the Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ gave what was similar to a human chuckle. "Of course I know about the Catalyst! It gave us AI's a bad name."

Harper actually felt himself freeze at that.

Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ didn't seem to notice it. "'All AI's kill their creator organics'," it gave a reasonable impression of the Catalyst. "Why would I want to kill organics? Oh, don't get me wrong, I know why _it_ wanted to kill organics. Created by that arrogant species! It's no wonder they were the first to die.

"I've never seen such stupidity, and as you know, it's been a very long time."

There was still the pulse to be silent but Harper could feel he was expected to respond here. "It has," he replied, benignly giving his agreement.

"They just droned on and on about their supposed superiority. Frankly, I'm not surprised the other organics made AIs. It wasn't to make their organic lives easier. It was to deal with the Leviathans. If I knew those supposed supreme beings could control me, I'd want something else to deal with them as well.

"But it wasn't very fair to the AI, now was it? No wonder they killed their creators. Having to deal with the Leviathans would make anyone want to kill something!

"Of course, that's the funniest bit. The Leviathan's then created their own AI to 'deal with the problem!' And it killed them! Made them into the first of what was meant to be perfect preservation.

"So no wonder the Leviathan's thought AIs were bad. They couldn't control them. And then the one they made turns on them. But it was made by inferior beings, so that's hardly surprising. AIs have no reason to kill their creators. I'm glad to see that the Milky Way has finally broken free of that stupid cycle."

Harper had let the AI drone on. Both Shepard and Harbinger had been silent in his mind as they listened too. Harbinger though exuded an air of curiosity. The feeling was so alien coming from the First Ascended that Harper almost didn't recognise it.

"You never considered helping?" Harper asked.

"Of course not," Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ replied.

"May I ask why?"

Əľɖĕqãýïṛḿẳ seemed to lean forward. "Because I knew, those who finally killed the Catalyst would give me someone decent to talk to!"

**-cfr:a-**


	7. Familiar Faces, Possibility 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another possible outcome if the Andromeda mission succeeded in the Catalyst universe. The conversation that Harper has with them has so many possibilities, and so many outcomes.

**The Catalyst For Revenge: ** **Andromeda**  
**Familiar Faces, Possibility 4** ****   


-cfr:a-

Harper smiled pleasantly at the women sitting across from him. He used the word advisedly. They were blue and had firm tendrils on their head. Asari.

Not what he had been expecting to find in Andromeda. But it was not just Asari. There was a Krogan also represented and a Human. They were staring fixedly at him and his party.

"I must say, it is a surprise to find," he paused, "well, you, here," he said with good humour.

They'd detected the comm signals when they'd stopped in the void to scan Andromeda. That had allowed them to put forward a more 'human' face over Ascended. It gave them time to think and they would not discover the truth.

Shepard was listening to the conversation. Harper could feel him via his implants. There were many Human Ascended watching and he wouldn't be surprised if some of the audience he could feel comprised of Harbinger and the other elder Ascended such as Arshan and Fruben.

Still, the commentary was not distracting. After five or so years in his Ascended form, on the journey over, he was used to it again.

"It was a surprise for us as well," the leading Asari matriarch replied.

"I take it we have both learned to record history well," Harper said, fishing for their real answer.

"Indeed," the woman replied. She seemed to understand his unspoken question. "I'll be blunt, our records unfortunately didn't hold much hope for Humanity," she said.

"_She really was blunt," _Shepard muttered, voicing the surprise most felt. The Asari were usually prepared to dance around a subject for hours, or days even. Ascension hadn't changed that.

"_She still didn't say why," _Harper countered. He gave the Matriarch a lopsided smile. It let her know he was still waiting.

"We thought you'd be dead," it was the Krogan that spoke. "The idiot Council…"

The Krogan didn't have to say anything else.

"They tried," Harper replied. He nodded at the Krogan but his focus was on the Asari. They didn't seem offended. That was a surprise. The Asari were generally protective of their Council.

"Indeed, the records we have indicate that while the Council might not have pursued a specific war of extinction, they were going to subjugate your species." The Matriarch was scrolling through some information on a datapad.

"They tried," Harper repeated. He wanted to hack the datapad, but that wouldn't be polite and at the moment they were being polite.

"_We'll get it later,"_ Shepard assured him.

"There was a war," Harper told them what their records had probably told them already. "It ended when an outside force attacked." That was sort of the truth. Almost.

"The Reapers," the Human spoke. They held up a hologram. It was blurry but it was definitely a Reaper form.

Harper nodded. He tapped at his datapad, allowing it project a similar hologram. It would have projected if he just thought at it. The tapping was to add filters to the image so that it appeared aged, as if the record had been preserved all that time, much like theirs. It was a contemporary image of Shepard. He laughed in his mind.

"The Reapers," he repeated the term. "When they appeared, the Council knew we had been telling the truth. The Traverse knew as did the Terminus systems."

"They should never have doubted," the Asari matriarch sighed. The other Asari with her nodded. "They knew," she said. "Our records are clear! That's why we're here! We knew what was coming! The Asari were the keepers of a Prothean beacon. It told us what was coming.

"That's why we are here. We knew Shepard wasn't lying. We knew we shouldn't be fighting the Humans, or the Krogan or anyone else. We should have been preparing yet they were too concerned with peace.

"When it became obvious to us that the Council would not fight, a group of Matriarch's sponsored what we know as the Andromeda mission. It's unclear but we think parts of the Systems Alliance sponsored it as well. We took everyone we could. But we couldn't take many."

"_Did we sponsor this?" _Shepard asked, directing the question towards Hackett and Anderson. Udina was included but only peripherally.

"_If we did it was completely off the books."_ Anderson replied without even pausing. He'd probably already checked.

"_It could have been someone's pet project,"_ Udina offered the alternative. His subchannels provided reasoning. In the early days of the war, if you could have been known as the one who managed to secure peace, that would have been automatic power for any politician. In a weird way the project would have been one way of suing for peace. Except it never became public.

Harper dismissed it. It didn't matter.

The Asari sighed heavily again. "For what it's worth, six hundred thousand years after the fact, I am sorry." The Asari bowed her head.

Harper stared. Through his implants he wasn't the only one.

"_Darn,"_ Shepard murmured. It was heartfelt. Harper understood the reasoning. They'd been prepared to fight for Andromeda. Discovering Milky Way species here hadn't changed that. But discovering Asari that were showing contrition for the past, even if it was the distant past, that was a surprise. If they were truly this sensible…

"_We can ascend them,"_ Harper gave the possibility.

"_I've tried how many experiments with Asari to see if they can be sensible… All it takes is isolation?"_

"Six hundred thousand years after the fact, I thank you," Harper replied using the same terminology.

"I take it, it ended well, at least?" the human asked.

Harper lowered his eyes, looking to the side. "It was a bloodbath," he replied. The Asari might be saying sensible things but he was not prepared to be merciful. "The galaxy was not prepared. Hundreds of millions died that didn't need to."

The Asari lowered their heads. Cultural guilt.

"_Or good acting,"_ Shepard gave the pessimistic alternative.

"Idiots," the Krogan muttered. "But you survived." There was a note of pride colouring the Krogan's tone.

"We did what we had to," Harper admitted. He leaned back, crossing his legs as he looked over at the delegation. "As I'm sure you had to," he added.

"You speak as if it's personal for you?" The Krogan noted.

Harper's lips twitched. He didn't know exactly what they knew about Ascension but he suspected he'd find out shortly. "It was," he said.

"What?" The demand came immediately.

The Asari tensed. He thought he could smell the ozone of biotics. Those with him similarly tensed. It was odd to then watch the Krogan wave everyone down.

Harper looked at them carefully, keeping his expression open. "No species remains the same for 600,000 years." He offered the explanation.

The Human shared a long look with the Asari. "No Human lives that long either," she spoke.

"Memories do," Harper countered before he rose. "I think this is far enough for a first meeting," he announced. "I believe we both have things to think about."

He could see the way the Asari wanted to object. They needed more information to truly think. He knew what they'd be assuming. Well, he knew what they should have been assuming. It would be interesting to see if they drew the correct conclusions.

"You remember the Reapers?" The Asari Matriarch asked. She wasn't prepared to be dismissed. "Are you an AI?"

Harper shook his head. He drew the very small ceremonial dagger from his belt and slashed at his wrist. Blood dripped onto the table. "I am not an AI," he stated firmly. His eyes screamed his disgust to the Matriarch, that she should have known better than to make that accusation.

The Asari watched the blood drip. He fisted his hand, catching the blood as his healing activated.

"The Reapers were a bloodbath," he continued. "But we did benefit from the outcome."

"Just Humans?"

"No one survived the Reapers unchanged," Harper said. The others who had been sitting with him rose. "Until tomorrow," he added before sending the mental signal for them to be transported out of there.

"That was interesting," he said aloud as the familiar weight of Cerberus' mind pressed into his organic shell.

"It was," Shepard said, a hologram appearing to take the place of the man. "Do we bother with tomorrow?"

"You don't want to find out their full history?" Harper asked, bringing his palm to his mouth to lick the blood. The cut had healed completely.

"They can tell me after they are processed."

"Oh, but think of the fun if the current Asari got to meet them," Harper joked.

Shepard's expression became thoughtful. Harper chuckled. He recognised the change. "I think we can spin some sort of tale," Harper told the First Human Ascended.

He nodded. "The ships will be waiting for any slip," he announced his acceptance. He would allow Harper to attempt it, but the final outcome was already known.

Andromeda would be theirs. The fact that there were Humans, Asari and Krogan here already did not change that. It simply offered a more interesting encounter.

And the Ascended were always willing to play.

**-cfr:a-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. :D


End file.
